Fort du Hâ

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

English dominion over Bordeaux lasted approximately three centuries. In 1451, the Bordelais attempted to resist Charles VII but had to capitulate. The King of France had two strong castles built at the two ends of the city, called, one the château Tropeyte (Trompette), the other the château du Far (du Hâ). The latter subsisted in its entirety until 1602, at which time Henri IV had part of the fortifications demolished. In 1680, Vauban proposed replacing the roofs with terraces. In the development plans for Bordeaux, Tourny tackled the castle. His project consisting of razing the south ramparts to build houses, conceived from 1747, was executed in 1754. At the Revolution, the fort served as a prison. In the 19th century what remained was demolished apart from the two towers, round and horseshoe-shaped, to build the palace of justice. The towers, surrounded by modern buildings, were assigned to penitentiary services. The plan of the fort had the shape of a quadrilateral. Modern plans indicate three towers: a square one near the east angle, a round one at the north angle and a horseshoe-shaped one at the west angle. There should also have been a tower near the south angle, a round tower in the middle of the south-east facade and another large round tower at the eastern angle, near the square tower. The towers and curtains were separated from the ditches by wide braies surrounded themselves by a rampart. Entry was made by two gates, one towards the town, the other towards the countryside. The latter was preceded by a barbican. When cannons became more powerful than those of the 15th century, the south curtain was modified. Ramparts of the braies and two towers were demolished to be replaced by a thick wall. The tower near the south angle was also demolished to make way for the rampart that joined the square tower of the ramparts of the town.